The Feminization of Teaching and the Practice of Teaching: Threat or Opportunity?

Abstract

In this essay, Morwenna Griffiths considers the effect of feminization on the practices of education. She outlines a feminist theory of practice that draws critically on theories of embodiment, diversity, and structures of power to show that any practice is properly seen as fluid, leaky, and viscous. Examining different and competing understandings of “feminization”— referring either to the numbers of women in teaching or to a culture associated with women — Griffith argues that concerns about increasing number of women teachers are misplaced. She complicates the cultural question, observing that masculine practices have a hegemonic form while feminized practices have developed in resistance to these, and she ultimately argues that hegemonic masculinity, not feminization, is the problem because it drives out diversity. Griffiths concludes that the leaky, viscous practices of teaching would benefit from the increased diversity and decreased social stratification feminization brings to the profession.

Gender and gender role differences in student–teachers’ commitment to teaching

“…For example, it is asserted that due to the feminization of teaching, boys in schools lack social role models and so feel less engaged and do not perform well (Driessen 2007;Songtao 2000). On the other hand, Griffiths (2006) and Drudy (2008) point out that there is little evidence to prove that boys need male teachers to achieve better or that boys need male role models to feel engaged. The teaching profession status argument is controversial.…”

La feminización cultural de las prácticas educativas: etnografías de la popularización de la ciencia y de la tecnología en dos países del Sur

“…Sobre esta definición amplia es posible identificar al menos dos tipos de aproximaciones complementarias (Griffiths, 2006). Aquellas que hacen referencia al número absoluto o proporcional de mujeres que participan o conforman un escenario, por ejemplo: profesional como la educación o la enfermería; o que caracterizan una condición social, como es el caso de la pobreza.…”

Creating feminised critical spaces and co-caring communities of practice outside patriarchal managerial landscapes

“…This is supported by the fact that senior management positions in schools, colleges and universities are disproportionately male. As Griffiths (2006) points out, the effect of this may be that what is seen as competence, good practice or as 'expertise' by trainees and students, as well as by 'outsiders' to the education system, is strongly influenced by gender, and tends towards masculinity. School managers have power over economic and administrative capital to be able to influence practices within their schools and to shape the developing culture and the direction of change within practice.…”

“…For instance, she shows how Lloyd (1993) traces the changing meaning of ''reason'' in Western philosophy -while noting that however the definition changed, it was always deemed to be male, and how Michele Le Doeuff argues that history of philosophy shows that women are allocated the things that men do not value -their ''castoffs,'' so to speak -such as intuition rather than reason, and bearing knowledge rather than producing it (Le Doeuff 2003). In this way, according to Griffiths (2006), men can and do suggest that their own discourse, agendas and perspectives are rational, neutral and universal. They claim the mainstream discourses as neutral.…”

“…In the next section we review a variety of literature from a number of diverse epistemic fields, including those concerning the traditional patriarchal hegemony dominant in many higher education institutions (Noddings 1984;Griffiths 2006) and those concerning new public management and its effects in education. Criticality, a significant feature of education, is in danger of being submerged by a culture of performativity (Ball and Olmedo 2011;Duckworth 2013, Ade-Ojo andDuckworth 2015) that marginalizes and silences voices that question or critique the ominous move to 'drive things forward' in a way that commodifies the individual.…”